Residual item (balance of payments)

Clearance is an adjustment item in the balance of payments of a state.

This item is necessary in order to formally balance the balance of payments, as the data sources that are used to create the partial balance sheets for the current account, capital account and changes in the Bundesbank's net external assets are not coordinated. These are statistically non-breakdown transactions. The residual item can therefore be traced back to the statistical inadequacies of the balance of payments, since the corresponding offsetting entries cannot be made in the balance of payments for all transactions relevant to foreign trade according to the principle of double entry . This also includes processes that were incorrectly or intentionally declared incorrectly or so-called suitcase transactions , which can only be estimated in terms of value.